Bud, Not Buddy: (Newbery Medal Winner)

By Christopher Paul Curtis

Book Overview

The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father--from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:

1. He has his own suitcase full of special things.
2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression

Bud's got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road to find this mystery man, nothing can stop him--not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.

BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:
The New York Times
School Library Journal
Publishers Weekly

" A] powerfully felt novel." --The New York Times

"Will keep readers engrossed from first page to last." --Publishers Weekly, Starred

"Curtis writes with a razor-sharp intelligence that grabs the reader by the heart and never lets go. . . . This highly recommended title is] at the top of the list of books to be read again and again." --Voice of Youth Advocates, Starred

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440413281
• ISBN13: 9780440413288
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Yearling Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Bud Not Buddy

Great child appropriate book of a young African American on the run. Has humor and talks about serious issues. Like the KKK for example. Great book.

A second Newbery for C. P. Curtis

When I read this book last fall, I knew it was a winner. Bud, not Buddy, is an unforgettable character. The tale of a young boy who doesn't let the circumstances of being black during the Depression keep him down is as pertinent today as it was then. It's message is if you have a dream & are willing to work to make it happen, you can rise above even the most humble beginnings and it's told with humor and hope.

A great book for kids or adults.

Christopher Curtis's first book "The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963" won a Newberry Award. This book is even better.The story is about a young man growing up in Flint, MI. during the Depression. Bud is an orphan during some very tough times. Kids will be entertained by his rules for a happy life. And everyone will smile as he describes Bud drinking a bottle of soda. It is both touching and humorous. I would highly recommend this book to students.